Shadow Magic
by labyrinth of chaos
Summary: Bakura makes a deal with Voldmort, and Yugi is recruited to stop him. Malik tags along for the ride, Kaiba gets dragged into the mess. How will Harry and friends deal with this new twist of events at Hogwarts? Set during the fifth book.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

*

*

It was quite an accident how Ryou met He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Well, maybe not accidentally per se, but the events that lead up to it was quite unpredicted.

He had gone back to England for the summer, to visit his grandparents. It had been over five years since the last time he had been back in London, but the instant he stepped onto the streets he felt the familiar comfort of home. His grandparents knew he was dying to go visit all the places he had known so well when he used to live here, so they gave him all the excuses to leave the house and rediscover his favourite places. On that day, his grandmother sent him out to fetch prune juice from a special vendor on the far west side of city. The first chance of fate was that he forgot his cellphone, but he knew he had his wallet so if he really needed to call he can pop into the nearest telly booth. The second chance of fate was that he missed bus and so instead of waiting another 20 minutes, he decided to walk. It had been five years, but the city had not changed that much, and so he didn't even consider taking a map.

So when he ended up on some random street after taking what he thought was short cut, and he was suddenly left with very limited options.

"Excuse me," Ryou asked the nearest passerby. The man ignored him, probably because he didn't hear Ryou's voice over the loud bustling street. After several failed attempts, Bakura was thoroughly annoyed. He absolutely hated when Ryou got all shy and polite like this and so he took control of Ryou's body and stalked into the nearest shop to demand for the stupid directions.

The shop that he chose, purely based on the fact that it was the closest one, was called the Leaky Cauldron, and it was dark and grimy inside. Bakura didn't spare a glance either way as he made his way to where the bartender stood. The bartender, looked up hoping for business, but the sight of Bakura made him heave a sad little sigh, "Hogwarts student then? Come on, follow me."

Before Bakura could object, he was quickly led to the back, where a very plain brick wall stood. Bakura could sense the magic that was trickling out from behind whatever was behind the wall. On top of everything his ring jingled as if excited by the dense magic around them. So his curiosity got the best of him as he watched the bartender tap the bricks with a polished twig. The wall opened up to a busy street, but one that was completely from the one he had just stepped off.

Ryou panicked, //Kura stop,// he said frantically, //you were suppose to get directions, not become more lost.//

/Oh shut up. You can get your stupid prune juice later./ Bakura growled, and eagerly kept walking. The first thing he noticed was that the magic here was quite dense and the people here could manipulate it in a primitive sort of way. The second thing he noticed was that everyone was wearing some kind of long dress, the men too. But it was the shops that were really interesting; one shop had books, some of them locked up in cages since they were tearing each other part. Another sold cauldrons, which seemed like some kind of odd pot that everyone needed. There where common stores like the ice cream shop which boasted flavours like Exploding Blue Cracknuts, and Choking Chocolate Fusion. What really caught his eye were the way these "people" paid for their goods, with big, fat, shiny, gold and silver coins. As he pushed his way through the heavy traffic, he nicked a few pockets, effectively getting enough money to spend leisurely. He examined one of the bags and took out the gold coin. He bit it carefully and he wasn't surprised that it dented easily, though a moment later, the dent faded back to the smooth texture it was before. Bakura smiled wolfishly as he dumped out all the little bronze coins, saving only the gold and a few of the silver ones.

He didn't spend the money. He rarely ever needed to. Every store he went in, he simply took whatever interested him and left. Of course some of the items had some primitive protection spell on them, but Bakura quickly figured out how to undo the spell by casting one of his own cards. Soon he had a duffle bag worth of trinkets. Bakura had almost decided that he had seen enough, when his nose caught a whift of Gringotts. He stared in awe at the white building that towered above all the others, with a strange ugly creature patrolling the entrance. Bakura grinned and leisurely strolled towards the large bronze doors. The creature bowed politely as he walked through the double doors. He almost laughed to himself at the little poem that was recited as he entered the main chamber. It told him a valuable piece of information; the vault was underground, sort of like the empty vaults of dead pharaohs he had robbed.

There were many more of those strange creatures, and each one of them was occupied with measuring and counting coins and jewels. Bakura nearly wanted to stage an improvised robbery there and then, but the constant nagging from Ryou coupled with his uncertainty about the strange pointy creatures deterred him. He vowed to himself that he will be back and this place will be less a few coins and jewels.

//Can we please go now?// Ryou pleaded fervently from with his soul room.

Bakura wasn't listening. He had finally spotted what he was looking for. It was a dark and grimy shop, tucked away in a dark corner of a windy side road. Bakura had a knack for finding treasures, and from the moment he had stepped onto Diagon Alley, he knew that there was one of these shady pawn stores somewhere. The store was crowded to the brim with dark and dusty objects, all of them which emitted and evil aura that warmed Bakura's heart. There was even a hand of glory in one of the glass cases. He could still recall making one for himself out of one of the hand of an unlucky pharaoh when he robbed his tomb. He walked around examining the items when a hunched man came out of the back room, probably the owner of the store. "Hey!" he shouted, "If you're not 'ere to buy nuthing, then you best be gettin' out."

Bakura whirled on the man and walked purposely towards him. "If you talk to me like that again mortal, I will dispel your soul to an eternity of torture in the shadow realm. Now, tell me, that knife, where did you get it?" he said pointing to an unobtrusive silver knife hanging at the top. He had been eyeing that knife since the moment he walked in here.

Borgin took down the silver knife, and smiled, "This little treasure cost me two arms and a leg, it's called the talon of-"

"-Horus. I know what it is called fool," Bakura interrupted, his voice full of irritation, "I asked you where you got it from."

Borgin reeled at the arrogant tone of this muggle-like teenager, "It's from Egypt, one of the few treasures those greedy Gringotts goblins didn't get their hands on," he replied stiffly, "Though it's clearly out of your price range, I don't see why you bother." That was when he caught a glimpse of the smile from the boy. It made him shiver all over, and he has seen some pretty evil things. The space around the boy seemed oddly dimmer than everywhere else; he could have sworn there were eyes watching him. Borgin froze in his step, "Who are you...?" he whispered with narrowed eyes.

Just then the door opened and a pair of cloaked figures stepped through. Bakura glanced over at the two who were in the middle of pulling off their cloaks. Borgin immediately became polite and beamed in what he thought was a welcoming air. "What I can I do for you fine gentlemen?" Borgin asked eagerly, shunning Bakura to the side. Bakura pocketed the unattended knife.

The taller of the two men saw the teenager boy and glared at him, "What are you staring at?" he snarled, then he noticed Bakura's clothes, "Heh, you're a mud-blood aren't you? I didn't know you did business with their kind Borgin."

Borgin reeled fearfully, "I assure you Mr. Nott that I was just about to throw him out."

Bakura didn't take kindly to being insulted and so he smiled, showing off all of his teeth, "Well, well, well. When did worms learn to talk? If you don`t like the staring, why don`t you try and stop me?"

The other drew out a wand and poised it menacingly. "Do you know who you are trying to pick a fight with?" he hissed dangerously.

This only made Bakura laugh harder, "What are you going to with that? Poke me with it?"

The one with the wand muttered something as his wand slashed through the air sending an angry red streak. Bakura carelessly brushed it aside with the back of his hand as he continued to laugh manically, "You'll have to do better than a few sparks if you want to defeat me."

The two backed into a shelf, sending the assortment of masks tumbling to the ground. "Who are you?" the shorter one shouted, brandishing his wand wildly, as more sparks flew out at Bakura.

Bakura had already casted the necromancy shield card, and the spells bounced off harmlessly. "Oh what's the matter? I haven't done anything yet," he said, the dangling pendants on the ring around his neck clinked ominously. "but both you seem like tough worms, why don't we play a game?"

The dark purple shadows sprung up around Bakura engulfing the contents of the store.

The two corned men fell back, trying to avoid the shadows. "Do you know who we are?!" one of them screamed, "You dare threaten the Dark Lord's faithful servants?! We, the Death Eaters who serves the most powerful wizard ever to grace this world?!"

The shadows disappeared suddenly as Bakura straightened up, as the two on the ground gasped a sigh of relief. "The most powerful you say?" Bakura asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

The other two hastily stood up, "Must be because you are mud-blood, how else would you not know the greatness of our true master?" Nott spat through his teeth.

Bakura drew out a card from his pocket and flicked it into the air. The card glowed as ropes shot out and bind the two Death Eaters. "Well, then as the King of Thieves I must go and pay my respects, wouldn't you say? Take me to him."

***

Shadi felt the disturbance even before he ascertained it. He glanced out the windowless room to the clear Egyptian night and the millions of stars that twinkled down upon the land. The moon that was there a moment ago had suddenly been obscured by a dark cloud. He tore his gaze away and fixed it upon the millennium scale sitting quietly on his desk. It was glowing, a white feather on one side a black feather on the other. Then the scale tipped towards the darker feather. He blinked once as he acknowledged the duty that lay in front of him. Giving one last glance out the window, he casted a teleportation spell.

* * *

A/N: I've always wanted to write a YGO/HP fic. Lol, I'm sorry if it's clichéd since it's been so done before. But I hope you liked it anyways! Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Ok to avoid any general confusion: This is set after battle city arc in Yu-Gi-Oh, and it's the fifth year in Harry Potter.

//.....// whoever is in the soul room.

/..../ whoever has control of the body.

Disclaimer: I forgot to put one up. I don't own yu-gi-oh or Harry Potter. Not that any readers would suspect over wise....

Thank you for all the reviews!

* * *

Chapter 2

*

*

Despite being crowned the King of Games, Yugi has largely done his best to avoid the spotlight. He was more confident in himself now, but still, force of habit made him horribly uncomfortable when confronted by the camera. Luckily he has not had too many run-in with the media at school, and for the large part, the people at school did not treat him as a big hero.

//Aibou, you did save the world a few times though,// Yami commented thoughtfully.

Yugi rolled his eyes, /Yeah, but I don't want to have anything to do with it. Besides, Anzu doesn't think that it's so great. She knows it's all you./ Yugi replied, flipping idly through a Duel Monster magazine.

But before Yami had a chance to reply, the door downstairs opened, and a second later, Yugi's grandfather called for him.

Yugi glanced at the clock on his table, it flashed a bright red 7:32 pm, the shop had been closed for more than an hour, and he vaguely wondered who it could be. It definitely wasn't Jou or Honda, or else there would already be a big ruckus. As he bounced into the living room, he stopped short at the sight of two people that he had least expected to see.

"Good evening Yugi, I'm sorry to intrude so unexpectedly," Ishizu said quietly.

Malik grinned from behind his sister's back, "Yeah, unexpected," he chirped.

Yugi's grandfather bustled in with a tray of warm tea. "Friend's of yours Yugi? Hoho, I didn't know you made friends with older women," he whispered into Yugi's ears.

Yugi turned bright red, and started to shove his grandfather out of the room, "I call you if I need you, grandpa!"

After making sure the door was closed, he turned back to his guests. "So what brings you guys all the way from Egypt?" he asked, sitting down on the opposite side of the couch.

Ishizu did not smile; instead she procured a letter from her purse and handed it to Yugi.

Yugi blinked wide eyed at the letter in his hand. "W-what is this?" he asked.

Malik rolled his eyes, "You're supposed to open it and read it first."

Yugi turned the letter over in his hand. It was a bulky letter with his name, bedroom, address neatly printed on the front. He opened it carefully, and dumped out the content. Ishizu watched him earnestly as he scanned the top letter. "Go on, read it," she said encouragingly.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Wugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Yugi Motou,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and Wizardry for the upcoming year. You have been chosen under exceptional circumstances and will be entering the fifth year. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on the 1st of September. We hope to hear back from you as soon as possible. Take care in these perilous times.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Yugi read it twice; just to be sure he didn't misunderstand anything. Then he stared up at the Ishtar siblings, "I-is this a joke?" he asked hesitantly.

Malik sniggered, "I told you he was going to say that."

Ishizu ignored her little brother, "It's most certainly not. Let me explain. Magic still exist in abundance, and there a thousands of people around the world who have the ability to manipulate them. Although the common strand of magic in this world is far different than the shadow magic that you have encountered, it is still very powerful. The Ishtars have worked our whole lives to protect this world from shadow magic, ensuring that it will never be used again," at this, Ishizu paused, and Yugi could sense the tenseness in her shoulders, "However about a week ago, Shadi and I both felt a great disturbance in the balance of power. A wizard has gained access to the shadow realm."

Yugi's eyes widened even more, "Who is it?" he asked.

"Dunno," Malik replied with a condescending snort that clearly said he was a far superior villain, "some self proclaimed dark wizard in Britain. I told you we should've just sent the baka thief to deal with it but no, he's not trust worthy, it has to be the pharaoh."

"Quiet Malik," Ishizu replied, there was a hint of irritation in her voice. "Yes we fear this wizard is one who has been responsible for the countless deaths of many innocent people. He lost his power for some time, but now he has found a way to return, stronger than before. That is why you must go there, the fate of our world rest in your hands."

Yugi looked from the stern face of Ishizu to Malik, who was clearly getting bored by the fate-of-the-world speech. "B-but this school," he protested, looked down at the letter, "Hog -Hogwarts, you can't possibly think that I can go there right? I can't do magic."

This time it was Yami who answered, //Of course you can Aibou. You have always been capable of doing magic. Shadow magic has a unique way of bringing about the ability to manipulate magic. Besides, I am always here to guide you.//

Malik smiled in what he hoped was a friendly encouraging smile, "Come on Yugi, I'll be going with you, and I'm sure the stupid thief will come too. Besides you don't actually have to save the world, there's someone else who's suppose to do that. We're just going there to keep an eye on things."

Ishizu nodded in agreement, "It is of the upmost importance that you are the one who is there to guard the Chosen One. His fate cannot be interfered with by the shadow realm or else only chaos will engulf this world."

Yugi sighed, angry that a part of him really, really wanted to go. "When does this school start?"

***

Kaiba glared at the computer screen in front of him. It was the latest blueprint for his holographic technology. It wasn't good enough. Although he didn't believe in the magic hocus-pocus crap that Yugi and his dweeb squad were all into, he had to admit that certainly the effects of the God Cards were not the cause of his holographic projectors. There was no way that his technology could produce the way the monsters made the air crackle with their raw energy.

//You know, I've been watching you build these machine things, and I don't see why it's so hard to infuse it with some shadow magic. It'll get you the effects that you wanted.//

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. It was that stupid voice again; the voice that was stuck in his head since that dreaded day when he accidentally touch the millennium rod.

//How long are going to deny my existence?// the voice asked in a bored tone. This was not the first, or even the hundredth time he had tried to get his hikari to acknowledge his presence. Two can play at the stubborn game.

Kaiba distracted himself by going through his email. Although it had only been 10 minutes since the last time he checked, already a pile of them had made their way to his mailbox. His assistant was the one who filters his emails, so only the important ones got to him. The top email was labelled important, so he clicked it open and read the content.

To: Seto Kaiba

From: Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Read the mail, please.

Kaiba frowned at the four words. Even the voice in his head was quiet. Just then the door opened, and his brother bounced in, "Hiya nii-san, I brought up the mail for you!"

Kaiba looked up, even he was surprised as his brother handed him a stack of envelops. It must have been some sordid coincidence. He took them wordlessly, and shuffled through them. Most of them were bills, some of them were invitations, and the last one, was a curious bulky package with his name printed in slanted green ink. He tore it open and scanned the letter.

//Well isn't that interesting? Someone somewhere agrees with me that magic lies in your bones.//

Kaiba promptly put the letter through the paper shredder. He would never accuse Mokuba of staging this kind of immature joke, but what he didn't know was that Mokuba had retrieved that mail from a large barn owl a few minutes ago, when he was getting into the building. He also didn't know that Mokuba has been getting these mails for weeks or that Professor Dumbledore has been secretly contacting his brother.

The next day Kaiba stepped out of his limo in the curved driveway of his huge mansion, glad that he was home early for once. Early, meaning 7:30, right after the sun had set. He was about to key in the code that unlocked his doors, when something fluttered past the corner of his eyes. He swivelled around only to be confronted by 30 or so owls perched on low tree branches, hedges, and fence tops. They all watched him, with large patient eyes. He also noticed that they all had letters tied to their legs. The nearest one held out its leg expectantly, as if expecting Kaiba to do something _ridiculous_ like retrieving it.

The voice in his head tutted disapprovingly, //Birds are so unreliable. It's so easy for bandits to intecept them and they do their business everywhere.//

Kaiba reached slowly for the cell phone in his pocket, careful not to make any sudden action, and speed dialled for Roland, his chief bodyguard. "Why is my house being surrounded by giant birds?" he snarled into the speaker.

"G-giant birds?" the voice in his phone replied back uncertainly, then noticing the deadly silence, the voice stammered hurriedly, "I mean, I'll get on it right away."

Kaiba shut the phone and debated whether if it was safe to go in or not.

"I don't get it," a voice rang out from beside him, "Why do you hate magic so much?"

Kaiba whirled upon the voice, only to see a very annoying Ishtar staring at him. "Did you do this?" Kaiba asked, the steel in his voice seemed to cut through the air, making Malik wince, "I swear I will have you arrested for trespassing, and property destruction in the next minute if you don't get rid of these... these birds."

Malik rolled his eyes and then smiled, "Trying to change the subject are we? Why can't you see that magic is ridiculously useful?"

A vein popped on Kaiba's temple, "There is no such thing as magic!" he yelled.

Malik grinned more and tapped his own forehead, "Does he talk to you? He never talked to me. Something about me being immature," Malik replied twirling the millennium rod idly, ignoring Kaiba's hostility.

Kaiba didn't reply, as he watched the Egyptian boy walk closer, "Come on Kaiba, don't you want an opportunity to have the world under your fingers? Have a secret weapon so deadly that you can force people do things without ever being incriminated?" Kaiba's glare intensified from a hundred daggers to ten thousand. Malik knew his argument was slipping away, "Protect your little brother?"

As if right on cue, Mokuba stumbled out from behind the door. "Nii-san, I think you should go."

Kaiba stared at his brother imploringly, "I think you should go back Mokuba. This really doesn't concern you," he finally said, the calm forced through his teeth.

Mokuba didn't budge, "Nii-san, I know you're worried about me and the company, but I can handle it. You should go Nii-san, it'll be good for the company," Mokuba hesitated, "I think it'll be good for you too."

Malik groaned at the sappiness of the scene in front of him. Though he had to admit the kid can bend his brother's will like a puppet on the string.

Kaiba felt like he had lost a very long and difficult war.

//Hmm, your brother is quite the persuasive person isn't he?//

/Shut up./

**********

Ryou woke up and found himself lying on top of his bed. He racked his brains for what happened before he was locked in his soul room by Bakura. They had been in a shop, and Bakura had threatened some people, and then.....his head started to hurt. "Ow," he moaned and decided to drop the subject. Instantly the pain went away.

//If you dare breath a word of what happened the other day to anyone, well let's just say you're grandparents are getting kind of old aren't they?//

Ryou went pale. /Don't hurt them!/ he gasped, /I won't say anything. I promise./

Just then the phone beside Ryou's bed rang. Ryou fumbled to pick it up.

"Hello?" he inquired softly.

"Yo," It was Malik. "You won't believe it, but the stupid pharaoh and his priest have agreed to come to England. I mean I knew that the stupid pharaoh would come if Ishizu spouted nonsense about the end of the world, but I didn't think that Kaiba would agree at all."

"P-pardon?" Ryou asked unsure what to make of what Malik just said.

There was a pause, followed by swearing in an unknown language, "Oh it's you. Where's that baka thief?"

Ryou sighed as Bakura took over, "Why are they coming?" Ryou's voice had become harsher as the dark spirit of the ring replied.

"What? You didn't feel the disturbance?" Malik asked confused, "Some idiot spilled the secrets of the shadow realm to a _wizard_, so Ishizu is sending us there to keep an eye on things."

Bakura grinned, "So that's what this is all about."

Malik grinned too, "Yeah, we'll be there in about a week. I've got your acceptance letter and everything. We're going to some boarding school for wizards with the _pharaoh_, put it together. Who's going to stop us from causing all the havoc we want, thief? The teachers?" Malik asked mockingly.

Bakura rolled his eyes and shut the phone. Everything was falling into place, just like he had planned.

* * *

A/N: I solemnly swear to stick as close to the characters as I can. Though to be fair, Malik's personality is still largely based on him before he became good, so it's not exactly OOC. Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! And Favs!

God I can't even explain to you guys how long I've had the idea for this story in my head....like at least a good three years. I'm glad it's finally being written down... lol enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 3

*

*

Malik whirled around grabbing Yugi harshly on the shoulder, "Did you see that?!" he exclaimed excitedly, pointing towards a shop where a wizard was paying for a necklace. "He was using big fat golden coins!"

Yugi tried to look at where Malik was pointing at, but more discreetly, "Oh, I guess that would make sense that they use different money than we do."

The four boys stood on Diagon Alley unsure what to do. "Oh, Ishizu didn't mention anything about that," Malik's face fell, "Where we going to get that money? I guess we can get the thief to do it."

Kaiba trod over Malik's toes, as he stalked by, "No you fool. We're going to find a bank."

Malik glared contemptuously. "I'll get you for this," he muttered under his breath, but no one heard as everyone rushed off to keep up with the taller boy.

Surprisingly Kaiba found Gringotts without resorting to asking for any directions and the four boys found themselves standing on the white marble steps of Gringotts.

Yugi's eyes grew wider, "What are those creatures?" he asked.

"Goblins," Malik replied bored, "There used to be less of them in Egypt but now they've practically swarmed every city."

After finding out that Hogwarts had already set up bank accounts for all of them, and that they could exchange their money, they took the rollercoaster cart down to see their vault. Bakura took over Ryou immediately as they stepped out of the cart onto a platform where four identical doors stood side by side.

Yugi's puzzle glowed and the pharaoh placed a firm grip on Bakura, "You're so predictable," he replied. "So don't even think about it."

"I have to come down to this tunnel every time I need to make a transaction?" Kaiba scowled at the goblin standing off to the side. The goblin nodded impassively. "Don't you have anything less primitive? Like automatic banking units?"

"Muggle contraptions are extremely unreliable," the goblin retorted coldly.

The way back was far more uneventful, not counting the three or four times that Bakura tried to escape. The goblin found it very amusing, and kept commenting on how people never make it back if they get lost in the tunnels. Though no one was really paying attention to what he had to say. It's not like the prospect of getting lost will stop the King of Thieves.

Ten minutes after they had gotten out of Gringotts, the four were standing inside a neat and clean shop called Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

"I'm not wearing a dress."

"It's not a dress Kaiba, they're robes. Everyone wears them here."

"Are you blind?" a vein on Kaiba's temple popped as he crossed his arms, "They're clearly dresses, and I'm NOT wearing them."

"I don't like them either, they cover up too much," Malik added glaring at the racks of robes. "How am I supposed to show off my tan?"

"I-I don't mind," Ryou said as Madam Malkin hemmed the bottom of his black robes.

"Well that's cause it's slightly less prudish than your normal sissy-ass sweaters."

The ring under Ryou's robes glowed and his eyes narrowed. "You're such a whiney hypocrite. You and your goons used to wear them all the time."

"Those were CAPES, baka thief!"

"Guys, not here," Yugi pleaded at the escalating hostility in the atmosphere. "We're not supposed to standing out."

Malik snorted, "Right cause you're bonfire hair isn't like a giant look-I'm-a-freak sign."

"Hey! I was born like this!"

An hour later, the four teenagers made their way out of the clothes shop laden with several packages. Kaiba and Malik grudgingly bought the robes, but they still insisted that they won't wear them.

Yugi checked the list, "I can see the wand store. Let's go there." The three other boys followed as Yugi lead them into the dusty shop named Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.

As soon as they entered, an old man with large silvery eyes came out of the back to greet them. He looked as frail as the stacks of thin boxes around them. "New students I see...ah but not first years. Curious," he whispered, peering at his new customers from the top of his glasses. "Well, then who's first?"

Malik smiled and rushed forward. "Me! Me!" he exclaimed excitedly, and then he whispered to the wand maker, "I'll pay whatever you want if you can find me a powerful wand."

Ollivander tutted lightly, "That won't do. All of my wands are powerful when they find the right owner. Wand arm out please."

Malik scowled and held out his right arm. The tape measure busily started to measure everything, from the distance between the knuckles, to the bridge of his nose. Ollivander wandered the store and picked up a few boxes as he went along. "Cherry, nine and three quarters, unicorn hair, springy," Ollivander recited and handed the wand to Malik. Malik held it unsure what to do, but before he had a chance to ask, Ollivander plucked it from his hand and handed him another one.

"Twelve and quarter inches, ash, phoenix core, rigid." Malik barely touched it before it was also snatched from his hand. "Hmm, not this one either."

And so it went on like this and the boxes of opened wands piled up on the table. Malik became agitated, unsure what exactly the wand maker was looking for. However, Ollivander became more and more excited by the prospect of a difficult customer. He muttered to himself incessantly, finally he climbed a ladder and took down a very old and dusty box.

"Walnut, eleven and a half inches, sphinx tail hair, swishy. I made this one as an experiment when I went to Egypt a long time ago."

The moment Malik gripped the wand, a stream of gold sparks shot out. "Cool," he said waving it around as more sparks was sent through the air.

Kaiba went next, and Ollivander got his wand on the second try, "Hickory, fourteen and three quarter inches, dragon heartstring, inflexible."

Malik snickered, "Inflexible like his anal personality." Kaiba jabbed his wand sharply and a stream of blue sparks shot towards Malik. It made a loud crack and singed his shirt, causing him to jump back in alarm.

Yugi ran between them, "Guys stop it. If you don't want to stick around, just go to the pet store or something."

Yugi's wand took several tries. But Ollivander dug enthusiastically through his collection, "Ah, try this one. Elm, nine and a half inches, phoenix feather, pliable." Yugi knew this was the one, it felt different, warm and alive somehow. Yami nodded in agreement from his soul room.

Ryou's turned out to be just as tricky as Malik's. Coincidentally, Yugi observed that Ollivander kept switching between dark color wands and lighter wands unsure which one was best. Finally Ryou was able to produce dazzling stars out of a ten inch yew wand, with unicorn hair.

"That would be seven gallons each," Ollivander finished.

After the four made their purchases, Yugi consulted the list of school supplied. "We need books, and cauldrons. Let's go to the book store first."

"Um Yugi," Ryou spoke up finally, "Malik is gone."

"What?!" Yugi exclaimed and looked around just to be sure, "Where did he go?"

"I'm pretty sure that Egyptian went to the pet shop like the good dog that he is. I'll see you losers in front of the bank in an hour."

"B-but, we really should stick together Kaiba!" Yugi replied, but the taller boy had already melded into the busy streets.

Ryou said, offering the other boy a slight smile, "The pet store then Yugi? I kind of wanted an owl."

Yugi sighed in defeat, "Yeah, let's go."

The pet store proved to be way more interesting than they had expected. When they walked in a haphazard witch was trying to stop Malik from terrorizing all the rats. "Don't take them out of the cage!" she yelled, as Malik reached a hand into a cage for the black rats all cowering near the far side.

"You said they do tricks," Malik commented sourly poking at the rats with his wand. Then he looked up and caught a sight of Yugi and Ryou. "Hey guys, are you guys getting anything?"

"Well I kind of wanted an owl," Ryou replied. The shop owner smiled, "Well then, this way, this way" she said shoving them towards the other end of the shop, glad to get the horrible boy away from the poor rats.

"We just a got a few young screech owls you know, over here we have..."

Ryou looked around at all the large unblinking eyes that stared down at him, wondering how on earth he was going to pick. Then he spotted the perfect owl, "That one!" he exclaimed pointing to a spotted owl in the corner.

Yugi squinted into the darkness, and all he saw was an eerie white face.

"Ah that is the only masked owl in the store. We got her a month ago. They're not very popular," the witch proclaimed, as she retrieved the owl for Ryou.

Ryou was all smiles as the owl stared back at him with large gold eyes, "Isn't she beautiful?" he whispered, gently stroking the soft feathers.

Yugi wasn't sure what to say. The mask owl was really creepy with its pure white face lined by a dark brown feathers and a strangely elongated nose. "Um, it's great," he replied unconvincingly; luckily Ryou missed his lack of enthusiasm.

Then there was a loud yelp followed by cursing, as Malik swore to himself in Egyptian, clutching an angry kitten in his hand. "The cat scratched me!" he replied indignantly. The spotted cat looked up innocently, and meowed.

Yugi smiled, "I think it likes you. You should get it."

Malik looked back at the kitten and grinned, "Oi wait up, I'll buy it!"

The rest of the hour went by fairly uneventfully, not counting the run in with the bookstore, where a completely worn out book keeper fished out copies of the biting monster books for them. Finally Bakura summoned the binding card, tying the vicious books together. When they found Kaiba again, he was sitting on a bench flipping idly through a newspaper, with two large stacks of books added to his purchases.

"Starting your own library huh?" Malik asked staring at the stack of books, "You know they have one at the school."

Kaiba glanced up, "Oh how quaint, you finally found an equally flea-bitten fur bag for a friend," he replied upon noticing the small cat draped across Malik's shoulders, "I'm so happy for you."

The cat hissed angrily at Kaiba's sarcastic tone. But before Malik could reply, Ryou shouted excitedly, "Wow! Look guys, those pictures are moving!" he said pointing to the big picture on the front of the Daily Prophet.

Kaiba tossed it to the side. "Hmph, apparently these _people_," he stressed the word people as if he was being extremely generous since they weren't really people but rather a primitive specie of aliens, "have a whole government system. There was also this senseless article on some apparently infamous dark wizard, but they wouldn't write his name. They keep referring to him as You-know-who, and He-who-must-not-be-named."

Yugi's eyes grew wide and reached for the newspaper, "Where's the article Kaiba?" Yugi asked, fervently flipping through the pages. "Ah here it is! Rumours of You-know-who's Return are False."

Malik snorted and crossed his arms, "If I was some infamous evil villain, which I was, the only reason that the low life minions would refer to me as You-know-who was because my name was Blarney."

"Right," Kaiba added sarcastically, "Because if your name was Blarney you would tell the world."

When Ryou saw Yugi put down the newspaper, he asked worriedly, "So what did it say?"

Yugi shrugged, "Well, it could be who we're looking for, but the general public can't agree on whether he is even alive, or just gone into hiding. Either way, this article says he's in no condition to stage a take-over-the-world scheme."

"Well, maybe there's another villain?" Ryou asked thoughtfully. In his soul room, Bakura almost died laughing at the irony.

"Maybe," Yugi replied doubtfully.

***

The rest of the summer went by fairly uneventfully. Yugi and Malik stayed with Ryou and they spent most of their time touring around London. Malik got lost on the Tube more than once. The first time he got lost in the crowded compartment, and Ryou and Yugi spend three days looking for him. They finally found him in a football pub, singing rude songs about the greatness of whatever team the pub belonged to. The second, third and fourth time was on purpose after Ryou insisted on going to another horribly boring church which he called "prestigious historical landmarks". Finally Yugi had to resort to tying him on a leash. The leash lasted about five minutes, in which Malik was lost in the big city a fifth time. They didn't find him again until the day before their departure.

Kaiba spend the last of his fleeting days changing his mind. If it wasn't for Mokuba's constant assurance, he certainly wouldn't have gone to King Cross on the assigned day. Now that he had accepted this magical hocus pocus world, it became evident that he was just as good at magic as he was at building extremely advanced technology. It didn't hurt that he had a 5000 year old spirit teaching him either. Apparently the spirit whose name is Seth, was an expert on all sorts of magic, and he spent every night teaching Kaiba about its various uses.

/Aren't you going to tell me how to summon monsters?/ Kaiba asked one night after he had finished reading the last required textbook.

//You can barely do simple magic and you want to play with cursed fire? Besides, it's a lot easier if you had a millennium item,/ Seth retorted.

Kaiba grumbled inaudibly but it was crystal clear in his soul room.

Seth sighed, //Don't worry, I will teach you shadow magic, when you are ready. You should practice your charms.//

And so, the days of summer slipped by and finally September 1st loamed around the corner.

* * *

A/N: I really like Ryou's character, I was wiki-ing him the other day, and he's actually really interesting. I laughed so much when I read that he likes grotesque things. I think it suits him some odd kind of way. Anyways, after three long chapters, Harry Potter will finally make his way into the story! Next chapter that is.....

Please Review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Happy New Years and Merry belated Christmas!

* * *

Chapter 4

*

*

"Well I guess we all find out that someone played us for total idiots," Kaiba was nearly seething, a crumpled piece of paper in his clutch as he and the other three stood on the platform between 9 and 10. "I hope they're having a good laugh because if I ever catch wind of them for wasting my life like this I will have them locked away in the darkest prison in Siber -"

"Kaiba we all know what you'll do," Yugi interrupted, even he was annoyed by the taller boy's foul mood; it seemed to be harsher today than any other days and it hung over the group like an angry storm cloud. "I'm sure someone will know where it is."

//Hm, the Seth I knew was far less dramatic,// Yami commented.

Yugi sighed, /It's probably because he was having a hard time saying goodbye to Mokuba. He's taking his frustration out on us./

"Psst guys," Malik whispered excitedly, trying to be discreet, "Look, look, that guy's wearing pink knee socks and he tucked his jeans into them. He should be arrested for public indecency."

Everyone stopped to stare at the small crowd of oddly dressed people.

"You know," Yugi said, as the truth dawned on him, "I think they must be wizards. Look, they have kids around our age with them. I bet they know where we need to go."

Ryou sighed in relief, glad that they had found a solution to their daunting problem, but his sigh was lost in his throat when he saw one of the boys pushing a cart vanish into the walls. "W-we have to walk through the wall?" Ryou whimpered, his face was turning whiter than his hair.

Malik was half way there, dragging his cart along. "Come on! This is wicked!"

Unsurprisingly they made it to the other side in one piece, "Is it over?" Ryou whispered, his eyes still tightly shut.

The steam engine of the bright red Hogwarts Express gleamed in their faces. "We're taking an antique train. Great another five hours wasted," Kaiba commented derisively, "I bet walking is faster."

Malik snorted, "Don't you want to see Kaiba walk to the magical school, Sehki?" he cooed petting his new cat. Sekhi meowed in what sounded suspiciously like a yes.

"Sehki? That's a cute name," Yugi commented, desperately hoping for a change in conversation before Kaiba killed someone.

Malik looked smugly, "It's not cute at all. Sehki is short for Sehkmet, you know the blood thirsty guardian lion goddess of Upper Egypt?"

"Oh," Yugi managed to squeeze out, "I-I guess we should be getting on then."

"Yeah," Malik continued as they made their way onto the train, "I was going to call her Bast, but Sehki didn't like it."

"Right," Yugi replied forcefully, "That's great, let's focus on getting a seat shall we?"

"There are no seats at all," Ryou commented, his eyes wide as they walked down the narrow isle, the compartments on both sides filled with chattering students. Almost everyone stopped to stare at the four as they walked by. "Maybe we'll have to stand," he worried.

"I'm sure we'll find one," Yugi replied though not very convincingly.

Harry sat in a lone compartment sullenly staring out the window trying to block out the cheerful chatter of happy students outside. He felt guilty that Sirius had come to see him off and even more so when Lucius Malfoy had spotted them. Of course it didn't get better when Hermione and Ron had to leave to go to the perfect's cabin. This was the first time he had been truly alone on his way to Hogwarts. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the train roared into life. Then suddenly, anger that did not belong to him raged through his mind and it felt like his scar was splitting his head open.

He was Voldmort, standing in a dim room surrounded by five cloaked figures, his high cold voice echoed dangerously, "I will deal with Potter in time. There is no need for you to be concerned. Now, I will be away for a little while and when I am back, I expect all of my most loyal followers to be here to greet me."

"But master," one of the death eaters pleaded, "You can't possibly take the words of the boy seriously? Surely he could not have magic that surpasses you own?"

Harry felt the rage flaring again, "How dare you question the powers of your master?" Voldmort hissed, "I who have traveled farther into the realms of the dark arts more than anyone else?"

"My most humble apologies my lord," the death eater murmured bowing furiously.

To Harry's surprise Voldmort calmed down, "That boy has informed me of the location of an object that I have been seeking. I will return once I have retrieved it. That is all."

Harry's eyes flew open at sound of the compartment door sliding open. He realized he was gasping for air and he tried to quickly regain his composure as a short boy with tri-color hair stared at him slightly embarrassed.

"Can we please sit here?" Yugi asked hesitantly. He didn't mean to wake up the boy, even though the boy seemed to be having some kind nightmare.

"Sure," the boy replied automatically, and then he looked up sharply at the four that bustled into the small space. "Are you guys first years? I don't think I've seen you around."

"We're transfer students. We've been given permission to start in the fifth year," Yugi replied with a friendly smile, "My name is Yugi Motou, this is Malik Ishtar, the white haired one is Ryou Bakura, and that's Seto Kaiba."

"It was very kind of you to let us sit here," Ryou added earnestly.

The boy smiled slightly, though there was still suspicion in his eyes, "My name's Harry, Harry Potter. Wow, I didn't know there were transfer students."

Yugi smiled weakly, "Our situations kind of tricky. S-so what year are you in?"

"Oh, I'm going into fifth year too, I'm in Gryffindor," Harry replied, surprised that the four didn't gasp at the sound of his name.

"What's that?" Malik asked perkily, "A nerd club?"

Harry smiled slightly. He was almost glad for the distraction albeit the blonde one was kind of rude. He really didn't fancy spending the entire trip dwelling on the fact that he was all alone. "I guess you haven't heard about it. There's four houses at Hogwarts, all new students get sorted into one of these houses," Harry explained, "There's Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin."

"How do they sort you?" Ryou asked agitated. "Is it random?"

Harry smiled, "No no, I think they sort through personality. Ravenclaw picks the smart ones, Gryffindor is for the brave, Hufflepuff is for hard working and Slytherin is for well..." Harry paused, struggling to find the right word, "ambitious students."

"I wonder what house we'll get sorted in," Yugi pondered out loud.

Malik snorted, "Hufflepuff, where all the duds are. Hardworking sounds like an excuse for there's-nothing-special which is like your other name. I kind of like the sound of Slytherin."

Harry smiled tightly, "Well Slytherin produced a lot of dark wizards."

Just then the door to their compartment banged open, "Hello Potter," came the familiar drawl of Draco Malfoy, a shiny perfect badge gleaming on his newly ironed robes. Then his eyes widen at the sight of the other four, "Wow, I know Weasel and the Mud-blood ditched you, but I didn't know you brought along the circus freaks to keep you company."

The compartment went dead silent.

Malik reached for the rod tucked in his belt loop, and Ryou went white as a ghost, and became very fidgety. Harry noticed the disc like ring around Ryou's neck jingled venomously.

Yugi spotted the signs, horror etched into his face, "Don't let him out!" he shouted quickly.

//Let me kill him, Hikari. I'll even do it discretely,// the spirit of the ring seethed. //I happen to specialize in circus nightmares.//

But it was Kaiba who stood up first. He's height alone made Malfoy stumble a few steps back. "Who the hell do you think you are?" he hissed, the wand in his hand slashed through the air, sending Malfoy crashing in to the opposite compartment's door, "If you dare group me in with these idiots again I swear I'll turn you into a rat and feed you to the cats." Kaiba slammed the compartment door shut.

Harry, Yugi and Ryou stared at the taller boy, mouth opened in shock.

"Where did you learn that?" Malik asked in amazement.

Kaiba glared contemptuously and resumed his seat, "From a voice in my head," he replied through gritted teeth before ducking behind a book to block out any more unwanted questions.

Malik grinned opting for a change in the mood, "So who was he Harry? Not a relative I hope? He kind of reminded me a bit of myself. You know, when I was five."

"That's Draco Malfoy, he's another fifth year," Harry replied forcing to keep the anger out of his voice. "Don't worry about him, he's a git, but he's pretty harmless."

A few minutes later, the door to their compartment opened a second time, and everyone looked up sharply. "Oi, there you are Harry!" Ron said making his way into the small space, "We've been looking everywhere for you! Did you see Malfoy? He was-" at that moment Ron caught a sight of the four other guys and stopped short, "oh."

Yugi offered a kind smile hoping that it will discourage the sudden suspicion building in Ron's eyes. At that moment Hermione walked in. "Hi Harry!" she exclaimed brightly, "I hope we're not intrud-"

Harry moved over to accommodate his friends, "These are my friends," Harry added quickly, filling in the awkward silence, "This is Ron and that's Hermione. Hermione, Ron, they are new transfer students. They're starting in the fifth year with us. That's Yugi, um that's Malik, that's Ryou and that's Kaiba."

Hermione squeeled upon noticing the taller boy absorbed in a book. "You can't mean Seto Kaiba?" she exclaimed excitedly causing everyone to look up in surprise.

"I've never heard of him," Ron said raising an eyebrow.

"Of course you haven't," Hermione snapped as she rifled through her bag and pulled out a magazine and pointed excitedly to the picture on one of the pages, "Look! He's the CEO of Kaiba Corp."

"What's that?" Ron asked.

"It's a very successful company that makes holographic technology. Oh I can't believe I'm meeting someone so famous here on the Hogwart's Express."

"I can't believe I'm here either," Kaiba muttered darkly, not looking up from his book.

Ron rolled his eyes, "Doesn't Harry count?"

Hermione ignored him, "Though, I didn't know that Hogwarts took transfer students. Where are you guys transferring from?" she asked her eyes narrowing again.

"Uh, well," Yugi started with an awkward laugh, "You see-"

"Japan," Malik interrupted, "They're from Japan. I'm from Egypt. Ishizu told me that I was invited to go to the Cairo Institute of Magic, but that stupid bastard wouldn't let me go, and I had to fulfill my destiny crap and then I got side tracked with taking over-"

"Ok that's enough out of you," Yugi exclaimed loudly, clamping a hand over the Egyptian's mouth. He only let go after Malik calmed down a minute or so later.

Luckily the food trolley rolled by and everyone was temporarily distracted by the sight of all the colourful sweets.

"Uh, we'll be taking three of everything," Malik said eyeing a bag of exploding crackers.

"Don't you want anything Kaiba?" Ryou asked not wanting to leave anyone out.

Malik answered for the taller boy still absorbed in his book, "Are you kidding? All he can taste is bitter. Hey Yugi, fork over some money."

After Malik had his third chocolate frog escape from him, Ryou spoke up again, "What's the badge for?" Ryou asked pointing to the shiny P badge on Ron and Hermione's robes, "That other boy had one too."

It was Ron's turn to smile, "Oh it's no big deal. It's the Perfect's Badge, you know the best boy and girl of each year gets the badge as a sign of exemplary excellence."

Hermione snorted, and so did Malik. "Sounds like it's a goodie-two-shoes badge to me," Malik snickered.

"Malik!" Yugi exclaimed, "Please don't mind him. He's always been rude like that."

Malik grumbled inaudibly and then crossed his arms. "I bet Blarney would agree with me," he sulked.

"Who's that?" Ron asked thickly through a chocolate cream puff.

Yugi sighed, "It's the name he came up for this dark wizard we read about in the newspaper. They wouldn't say his name, and they kept referring to him as You-know-who."

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, and then burst into laughter.

"Blarney! Can you believe it?"

"Imagine someone called him that to his face?"

Yugi and Ryou smiled politely trying to cover up their surprise, "S-so do you know his real name?" Ryou inquired, "Why can't people say it?"

Ron wiped away a tear and sat back, "Blimey you guys really are foreign, to never have heard of You-know-who. He's the greatest dark wizard of our time. Harry here is the only one who's survived a killing curse from him. Harry was also the one who was there when You-know-who got back his power last year."

"So he is back?" Yugi asked frowning, "The newspaper said they were just rumours."

Hermione laughed bitterly, "Well obviously they don't want to spread the news. Fudge, that's the Minister of Magic, he doesn't want to deal with it so he's just going to cover it up. It's really not the most ideal time for you guys to come to Hogwarts; it's going to be a rough year."

Yugi and Ryou had the decency to look grave. Malik raised an eyebrow making his sceptical face, "Ok doom and gloom. You guys still didn't tell us what Blarney's name is," he demanded.

"He used to be called Tom Riddle," Harry spoke up, but his voice was quiet, "Now he calls himself Voldmort. His followers, the Death Eaters, call him the Dark Lord. People don't say his name because they are afraid of him."

Just then Hermione stood up with a sharp yelp, "Ron! We have to go! We're supposed to patrol the corridors!" she yelled pointing to the setting sun outside the window.

Ron grumbled, and stuffed a bag of Bertie Bots every flavoured beans into his pocket before getting bodily dragged out by a panicking Hermione. "Alright, see you at the feast Harry! It was nice meeting all of you," he said with a half-hearted wave, as he disappeared around the corner.

Harry sighed, "Well I think we'll be there soon," he said looking out at darkening sky blotted with thick black clouds. "We better change into our robes."

* * *

A/N: I apologize for this rather boring chapter, but I hope the readers will pretend that it was good and read the next chapter soon to come. Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Wowser this chapter took me like seven years. O_o Once again, THANNNKKKKS for all the reviewsss!! I love every one of my readers! XD

* * *

Chapter 5

*

*

Malik examined the long black garment that is his Hogwarts robe and tossed it to the side. "I'm not wearing it," he proclaimed loudly. He opted for the open hooded cloak like coat, complete with long sleeves that went over his usual attire, "There, now at least I can retain some part of my dignity," he said examining his reflection in the window.

Harry chose not to comment as he put on his own robes. Clearly the Egyptian thought the weather was nice and warm all over the world.

Soon after, the train groaned to a halt as all the students filed out of the cabinets.

"Come on, you said you were suppose to go see Hagrid right? He's really nice, I'll take you to him," Harry offered, making his way out. "Oh you can leave your luggage here. Someone will bring it up to the castle for you."

Yugi looked at Ryou and shrugged as the four boys followed Harry out, empty handed. Malik shivered violently in the light breeze the moment they stepped off the train. "Why is it so Ra forsakenly cold?" he grumbled, rubbing his arms furiously.

"What do you mean?" Yugi answered lightly as he walked by, "Don't you want to show off your tan?"

Ryou had to hide his laughter behind his hand at the sight of Malik's jaw drop. Even Kaiba was grinning slightly. "So you want to play with the big boys, porcupine?" Malik seethed through gritted teeth, "Hm, don't cry to the teachers when you lose your soul." But a moment later, all of his revenge plans were temporarily displaced into the back of his brain when he saw the half giant that Harry was furiously waving to.

"Hagrid, Hagrid!" Harry yelled towards the tall figure standing on the platform.

Hagrid turned around and beamed at Harry, "How r' ye?" he said gruffly, "Oh made friends with the new lot eh?" he added as he saw the four boys standing off to the side gawping up at his figure. Even Kaiba looked less intimidating than usual. Hagrid smiled. "Come along then, follow me, follow me. Firs' years! Firs' years! This way!" Hagrid called into the crowd.

Harry grinned, "Well I'll see you guys up at the castle. Good luck on the sorting!" he said with a final parting smile, and then he melded into the crowd, leaving the four boys in the remaining crowd, awkwardly taller than the gaggle of excited eleven year olds.

"Well c'mon!" Hagrid yelled, waving his large hand, beckoning the group towards the rippled dark mass of the lake, "Alrigh', Four to a boat. Everyone in an' no pushing!"

Malik grabbed Ryou by the arm and dragged him towards one of the boats on the far side. "What are you doing Malik?" Ryou asked bewlidered, as he was forced onto the small boat. "Why aren't we sitting together with Yugi and Kaiba?"

Malik could hardly keep the grin from his face as two other first years climbed aboard. "You should probably go to your soul room. I don't think you can handle what's about to happen next," Malik replied smugly watching Yugi and Kaiba walk towards another boat.

"Those idiots are up to something," Kaiba growled as he followed Yugi into another boat. No first years joined them.

"Oh I bet," Yugi replied with exasperation in his voice, "and here I was, naively hoping that he had changed for the better."

Malik stood at the front of the boat with one foot on the stern, every inch the dramatic conqueror. His cloak billowed obligingly in the gentle wind. He forgot about the cold. "Aren't you guys too old to be first years?" one of the first years asked somewhat obnoxiously, "and why are you standing like that? Do you want us all to fall into the lake?"

"Yeah," the other first year chipped in, "I heard there was a giant squid that will eat you alive."

Malik's eyes narrowed and his millennium rod glowed briefly. The two first year's eyes slid out of focus. "We apologise for the insolence Master Malik," they recited in unison, "Please let us be your humble slaves."

Malik smiled with satisfaction, "That's much better." The boats began to move silently and effortlessly through the water into the middle of the dark lake. Ryou took one last fleeting look at the boat some distance away where Yugi and Kaiba sat, and then he was forced into his soul room as Bakura took over.

"Are you going to do something particularly lame like tipping over their boat?" Bakura teased mockingly, the boats were moving faster now, and they were almost near the middle.

Malik's grin widened as he rubbed his hands together, "That's only the beginning. I'll teach them to be crass with me," he muttered venomously, "Though you're welcome to help out Kura."

Bakura crossed his arms, "I'm not you're servant, Malik. I'm just here for the show and you better put on a good one."

"Suit yourself," Malik replied with a shrug and pulled out a trap card from his deck and threw it into the air. In a matter of seconds, a thirty feet tsunami formed and swept towards the little boat Yugi and Kaiba were sitting on. Kaiba stood up swiftly and muttered something under his breath while making complicated gestures with his wand, causing the tsunami to travel vertically into the air. Then with another wave of his wand, the water bent back towards his attacker causing it to rain down on the little boat like a big hose.

Malik spluttered as he gasped for air, the force of the water brought him to his knees and filled the rapidly sinking boat. Luckily the boat had some enchantment, and the water was quickly drained out before the boat sank. Hagrid was yelling at them to stop, but everyone was too preoccupied with screaming in terror to notice Hagrid's plea for order. Malik wiped the water off his face with his equally soaked sleeves and stood up. "That's it!" he hollered pointing an accusing finger at Kaiba. "You're going DOWN!"

His rod glowed like a mini sun with the force of the magic as he casted another card. The gigantic serpent dragon roared into life before diving into the dark waters, disappearing from sight. Most of the first years screamed in fright and huddled towards the middle of their own boats praying for their lives.

Kaiba stared hard into the water, hoping to see it before it strikes.

/Why can't I summon monsters?!/ he demanded, his fist clenched in frustration. Half of the monsters in his deck can obliterate the serpent dragon with one attack.

//Because you don't have a millennium item. _It's fine_, you can curse him to death. Just do what I say.// Seth replied patiently.

Kaiba closed his eyes and started to cast a spell. Yugi watched nervously as the truth dawned on him.

/I don't think Kaiba can summon monsters. You should do something Yami./

Yami nodded and took over.

Then several things happened simultaneously. The serpent dragon's mouth opened around the boat and lifted the entire thing thirty feet into the air, clamped in its jaws. Yami jumped a split second earlier, and as he fell he summoned the dark magician who swiftly destroyed the dragon. However it was too late to save the boat that was crushed in the jaws of the dragon, and so it fell back to the lake in pieces. Kaiba who had also jumped in time slashed his wand and bright blue lightning sliced through the air like the scythe of the grim reaper. Malik blocked with his rod but the force of the curse lifted him off the boat and he fell into the water a few feet away. Bakura ducked casually as the lightning whizzed over his head.

Hagrid hurriedly paddled the boat around to where Yugi and Kaiba landed with a huge splash and struggled to pull them out. However the boats were almost at the opposite shore and it became evident that it was unnecessary since the water was only up Yugi's chest. The three dripping individuals slouched up the shores soaked to their bones.

"You're DEAD Ishtar. DEAD," Kaiba snarled. He would have put the Egyptian in his place right there and then, if not for the fact that his wet clothes weighed him down like metal armour, the seaweed tangled in his hair and the water squelching out of his very expensive shoes.

Malik held up his rod defensively, "You just try and see how far you get," he gasped back through his sopping sand color hair.

A stern witch with square glasses rushed down to meet them. The first years cowered together far away from the three drenched boys and the white haired boy laughing sadistically. "What on earth happened? Some students said they saw lightning and a giant snake. Is all the students alright?" she demanded, looking from the four boys to the cowering crowd to Hagrid who was wringing his hand in guilt.

"We fell in the lake," Malik said loudly, it wasn't the whole truth but he didn't lie. "The giant squid broke our boat," he added pointing to the floating pieces of wood in the water. Ok so that part wasn't exactly true.

Yugi caught on and improvised, "Yeah and Kaiba casted the lightning spell to try and scare the squid off. I`m sure the snake was just the tentacles of the squid. It`s pretty dark out here," Yugi added pointing to the heavy dark clouds that obscured the stars and the moon.

"I want to go home," one of the first years whimpered not daring to call the four on their lie.

McGonagall turned white with fury and looked like she was about expel them there and then when she suddenly took a one-eighty turn and calmed down. "Very well," she said with a curt nod, "We will deal with this later. Come along then. We're going to be late for the sorting."

Yugi looked bewildered at the sudden change of attitude.

//Malik used the rod,// Yami said with a tired sigh.

Yugi nodded, /I should have guessed. He's becoming dangerous again./

Malik tried to squeeze the water out of his robes as he trailed the crowd up the steep steps into the Hogwarts castle. Bakura stepped in line with him. "That was pathetic in every imaginable way."

"No thanks to you," Malik retorted grumpily.

Bakura did not smile, "Shut up and listen," he said as he stopped in mid stride. "When we get sorted, don't end up in the same house as me." Before Malik had the chance to ask about the strange request, the ring's glow faded as Ryou was brought back to reality.

Immediately, Ryou's eyes became wide, "What on earth happened to you?"

***

Harry waited for Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. He couldn`t wait to have his friends back, the staring and the obvious pointing and whispering were getting on his nerves. He was fully prepared to complain about the unwanted attention when Hermione and Ron rushed over. "Did you see it Harry?!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked bewildered.

"There was a flash of lightning and some of the students said they saw a dragon above the lake!" Ron added pointing to the dark mass of water through the window.

"What?" Harry asked hushed, "There's a dragon here?"

"We don't know," Hermione replied fervently, "It`s really dark, they could have been mistaken. Some students said it could be a snake but I think a dragon is more likely. Oh I hope the first years are all alright."

"You don't think it's you-know-who do you?" Ron asked hushed.

Harry shook his head, "I would know if he was here right? I didn't see anything."

"Don't worry, Hagrid is with them. The dragon is in more danger than the first years. I mean if Hagrid saw a dragon he'd probably try to adopt it. More importantly, I'm starving," Ron moaned. "I hope they hurry up with the sorting."

Hermione looked on expectantly, "Oh but those four transfer students are going to be sorted too, aren't they?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, I left them with Hagrid. Hey do guys see who the new DADA professor is?" he asked scanning the table then his eyes fell on a squat toad like woman. "Guys, it's her! Remember the toad woman at my hearing?"

Hermione looked up sharply, "What no...that's impossible..." she muttered under her breath as her eyes stared off into the distance.

"What's bothering her?" Ron asked at Hermione's strange expression.

"Ron, the ministry is trying to infiltrate Hogwarts," Hermione replied crossly, "This is not a coincidence and I'm starting to think those transfer students didn't just suddenly decided to move here either."

"But they were really nice," Ron added thoughtfully, "I mean, they were weird and that Egyptian guy was kind of a rude git but overall they didn't seem like You-know-who-supporters."

Hermione crossed her arms, "The Ministry isn't You-know-who supporters either, but that doesn't mean what they are doing is right."

Then the door to the great hall opened as the first years hurried in followed by the four taller boys who left a large trail of water.

Everyone stopped and stared. "What do you reckon happened to them? Maybe there really was a dragon," Ron whispered staring at the three drenched figures. McGonagall didn't seem to care and continued to march the group up the hall to the front where a tattered black hat sat on a wooden stool. Harry noticed the first years seemed more afraid of the four figures at the back than standing in the center of attention of the whole school. He also noticed the four taller students were determined not to make eye contact with each other or anyone really. McGonagall placed a wooden stool in front of the first years and propped a very tattered hat on top of it. Everyone waited in silence. Then the hat's rim opened and it cracked into a song.

"I'm secretly hoping that we'll have sudden matches to the death," Malik said loudly to no one in particular as the hat fell silent once more. Ryou gulped audibly as McGonagall cleared her throat, "When I call your name please come up to the front and put on the sorting hat," She said and unrolled a long piece of parchment, "Abercrombie, Euan."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Aukley, Gina."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Bakura, Ryou."

Ryou turned deathly pale at the sound of his name as he made his way up to the stool. Yugi tried to smile encouragingly, but it was kind of hard to be positive when one is miserably soaked to the bones. Ryou bite his lips as the hat was dropped onto his head.

Then a voice exploded in his ears. "Why hello what do we have here?" the hat said as he peered into Ryou's mind.

//So this is how they do their sorting? With a hat?// Bakura sneered leaning against the door of his soul room.

"Excuse me? I happened to be fashioned by the great founders of this school," the hat replied indignantly upon noticing the second soul room, "Well isn't this a dilemma? There are two of you."

//Aren't you a smart hat?// Bakura retorted derisively, //But clearly not smart enough to tell that he's the one you want to sort.// Bakura nodded towards Ryou who was trying to blend into the wall.

"Very well, let's take a look," the hat replied, glad that he didn't have to do something potentially fatal like _choosing_, "Yes, very brave, and courteous, yes I think you will do very well in, GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted out loud.

McGonagall plucked the hat off Ryou's head much to Ryou's relief as all the Gryffindor students clapped for him. Harry waved him over. "Brilliant! I'm glad you're one of us!" Ron added as he shoved over to make space for him.

Ryou smiled happily, "Thank you! I'm glad I know someone at this table."

"So what happened out at the lake?" Hermione asked pleasantly, but Harry could hear the suspicion in her voice.

"Um well, the uh boat broke and uh it was dark and uh th-they fell into the lake," Ryou finished off lamely. But lucky for him, Hermione was temporarily distracted when McGonagall called out, "Kaiba, Seto."

The tall boy stalked forward, and the first years parted to let him through. He sat down on the chair and glared condescendingly out at the sea of faces that stared back at him. Then the hat fell over his eyes.

"Another one eh?"

"What?" Kaiba demanded sharply.

"You and the other boy both have another spirit in your mind. But I won't be fooled this time," the hat replied, 'Hm you seemed to have an even mix of everything but it seems that you prize your brain more than anything else hmm? Very well, RAVENCLAW!"

Out of the corner of his eyes, Harry could see Hermione give an obvious sigh of disappointment as he watch the taller boy walk over to the Ravenclaw table.

Ron grumbled under his breath, "I still don't get what's so great about him."

Harry didn't plan on responding to Ron's slight envy but his stomach lurched angrily as he watch Cho Chang offer the tall boy a seat and then proceeded to helping him dry his clothes. "Yeah," Harry added, 'There's nothing great about him."

They turned back to the sorting and then McGonagall called up the third transfer student, "Ishtar Malik!"

Malik walked forward confidently. The hat barely touched his head when it pronounced, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malik got off the stool with a grin and walked towards the table under the green and sliver banners.

/Does this confirm the theory that he has relapsed completely into his old self?/ Yugi asked with an eyebrow raised as he watched Malik join the Slytherins.

//I think you know the answer to that one.// Yami replied wryly. Finally Yugi's turn came around.

"Motou, Yugi."

Yugi breathed deeply and walked up to the stool.

"Hm, you're an easy one, plenty of bravery and kindness, there's only one place for you, GRYFFINDOR!"

Yugi smiled as he made his way over to where Ryou sat. Hermione quickly whipped out her wand and casted a spell that dried his is soaking clothes and hair. "Congratulations!" she beamed then her face turned dark, "What happened out there on the lake?"

Yugi shrugged nonchalantly, "Well, someone thought it would be fun to tip over the boat and get the giant squid angry, nothing exciting really."

* * *

A/N: So I just noticed that Hufflepuff will be sadly left out of this entire story. Sorry any Hufflepuff fans. Please REVIEW!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I had this written a while ago, but I was too lazy to edit it and put it up. Ok, it's up now... so forgive me...

Thank you my lovely readers for all the reviews!

* * *

Chapter 6

After all the first years were sorted Dumbledore stood up, "To our newcomers, welcome!" Dumbledore said, Harry noticed his eyes lingered on the four new boys, "And to our old friends, welcome back! There will be a time for speech making but now it is not it. Tuck In!"

Suddenly the four tables were groaning under the weight of hundreds of dishes piled with delicious food. Yugi and Ryou stared flabbergasted at the feast that stared back at them.

Ron was already helping himself to generous portions of mash potatoes and pork chops, "Here, 'ave some," he said through a mouthful of food as he passed a heavy plate over to Yugi.

Yugi smiled and accepted the mouth-watering food, temporarily displacing his worries to the back of his mind.

... ... ... ... ... ...

Meanwhile at the Slytherin table, Malik was drying his hair the old fashion way, with a towel that one of the students conjured for him.

"So where did you transfer from?" Malfoy demanded rudely.

"Egypt," Malik replied, glancing around taking in all the curiosities around them.

"Oh that place? I've been there once," Malfoy continued dismissively, "but mother cut the trip short because the heat was bad for her skin. Our vacation this summer was much nicer."

"That's so interesting," Malik replied jabbing the pork chop on his plate.

A girl on Malfoy's side simpered, "Where did you go Draco?"

Malfoy smiled at the attention, "Father's a close friend of the Bavarian prime minister, so we got to stay at his royal palace."

Malik smiled condescendingly, "Yeah that's really exciting. I mean my summer was way boring compared to yours. You know running my own criminal organization and all, was pretty lame."

A younger boy across the table looked up, his eyes wide, "You had a criminal organization?" he asked in disbelief.

Malik shrugged and twirled the rod idly, "Yeah, well there was only about 50 members, so maybe calling it an organization is kind of pushing it."

"What did you do?" someone else asked, as more and more Slytherin leaned closer to listen in.

"The usual exacting revenge and then world conquest," Malik replied nonchalantly. "Mostly just causing havoc everywhere."

"You did not," one of the girls retorted, but there was admiration in her eyes.

Malik shrugged, "Well I was sort of immature back then, so it didn't go as well as planned."

"So what are you doing here?" Malfoy demanded rudely.

"Going to school, Egyptian magic is of a different grade. There's some dangerous stuff in our family. You know my family goes back 4000 years in Egypt."

"You're family is 4000 years old?" some whispered in disbelief.

Malfoy seemed discomfited, but there seemed to be an air of approval mixed with the hostility. "So you're not a mud blood after all," he sneered.

Then Malik grinned unnervingly, "You have no idea."

... ... ... ... ... ...

After ample helpings of treacle tarts and chocolate pudding, the Hogwart's tables finally cleared itself of food and Dumbledore stood up once more. "And now I would like to introduce a new member of the staff, Professor Umbridge, will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. Further more I like to-"

"Eh hem, excuse me Dumbledore, but I would like to say a few things to the students," Umbridge simpered.

Dumbledore sat down smartly and gave her his full attention, much to the shock of everyone else. No one has ever interrupted Dumbledore at his after-meal-speech.

Umbridge immediately prattled into her long prepared address.

Ryou and Yugi tried to listen, but soon they found their attention slacking away, "Who is she anyways?" Yugi asked quietly to Harry.

Harry shrugged, "You're probably in for a disappointment this year in DADA."

"What's that?" Ryou asked hushedly.

"It's Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Didn't you have a class like that in Japan?" Ron added, eager to be distracted.

Hermione turned around and shushed them. "I'm trying to listen!" she hissed crossly.

Ron grumbled but he remained silent.

After what seemed like a two hour lecture, Umbridge finally stopped.

"I thought it was never going to end," Ron muttered darkly. "How did you pay attention to all of that Hermione?"

Hermione gave him one of her condescending looks, "It was very informative actually, but let's talk later. We have to take the first years upstairs. I guess you two should come with us."

After amusing themselves with the moving pictures, and the indecisive staircases, Ryou and Yugi sat with Harry, Ron and Hermione beside the fire, both comfortably happy and tired. Ron and Harry treated them to a game of very violent chess. "Say Yugi," Ryou started after his King was smashed into tiny pieces, "Do you want to have a duel before we go to bed?"

Hermione looked up sharply, "You can't do that!" she said severely, "It's not allowed!"

Ryou's eyes grew wide, "It's not allowed?" he asked flabbergasted, "But why not?"

It was Hermione's turn to look shocked, "Because it's really dangerous!" she replied.

"Yeah," Ron added, "We had a duelling club in second year; you know for practice, except that idiot of a teacher didn't know what he was doing at all, a pity Snape didn't do him in."

"Ron!" Hermione yelled furiously.

"Well, I guess it is kind of dangerous with magic involved," Yugi reasoned. "It's alright, it's getting late, and you said classes started at eight right? I think I'm going to get some sleep then."

Ryou nodded as he yawned loudly, "This place is really nice. I'm glad I came here."

Yugi smiled sleepily, "Me too."

Ron stretched his arms as the four boys made their way up the stairs to the boy's dormitories, "Uh you won't be saying that tomorrow. I don't know if anyone told you but, this is OWLS year. It's gonna be brutal."

Harry nodded in agreement, "Don't mention it in front of Hermione. You'd think there was a test every day."

Yugi and Ryou were too tired to be puzzled by what "Owls year" meant instead they nodded drowsily and made their way into bed.

... ... ... ... ... ...

That night Harry slept fitfully. He tossed and turned and then he was gliding silently under a clear night with millions of stars winking down at him, everywhere there was sand and fallen sandstones that used to be towering columns. His heart beat with anticipation, soon it will be his. He moved with purpose as he found the narrow wooden door. Blasting it open, he made his way inside. The boy said that item was hidden here, and who would have thought that a priceless treasure could have been found in this run down stone house? It was dark but his eyes could see clear as day. A thick layer of dust laid on all of the surfaces. Only the sound of the slight rustling of his cloak could be heard. He entered another room, his wand poised. There on the counter it sat, gleaming in the moonlight from the window. But he was cautious his wand flashed as he searched for traps.

"You can take it. There are no spells protecting it."

He whirled around to see a man in white with a turban around his head.

"Ah, you must be the guardian," he hissed with a sneer, "Shadi."

Shadi did not blink. "I will not stop you. The millennium items have promised their owners nothing but misery."

A flit of doubt crossed Voldmort's eyes but he brushed it away with a cold smile. "Oh? Then shall I put you out of your misery then?"

Shadi shrugged, "I have been dead for 4000 years." Without another word, Shadi disappeared through the walls.

Harry sat up in his bed, he could feel the sweat drip off his nose. Voldmort had got what he sought and it looked curiously like it belonged to a set; a set he was oddly familiar with. He glanced over at Ryou's bed, but no Ryou slept in it. He vaguely wondered where he could have possibly gone. He looked over at the other side and he was relieved to see that Yugi was sound asleep. Finally he settled back down into his own bed. After all it's not like they are going anywhere, Ron and Hermione will help him figure out what to do.

... ... ... ... ... ...

Bakura walked the silent halls of Hogwart's castle. The large inhabitants of the paintings that lined the walls were snoring peacefully. It was indeed a wondrous building, thick with magic. Voldmort was right in telling him that this is the place to learn some useful things. He stopped in front of a large window and stared silently into the night. No stars shined back at him but he had already known Voldmort has the millennium scale. Shadi had let him take it just as he anticipated.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. He turned around only to see Malik yawning a few feet away. "What did you want to talk about?" Malik asked, "You know I had to climb five floors to get here. Plus those stupid stairs kept changing their minds on where it should go."

Bakura did not smile, "I didn't call you here to listen to your whining. Listen closely Malik, we're going to start a club."

Malik looked at him curiously, "Oh? What kind of club?"

Bakura's grin widen, "The educational kind. I think it's time that these students had some extra-curricular lessons in shadow magic."

Malik stroked his millennium rod thoughtfully, "You think so? But they don't know how to play duel monsters. I don't want to be shafted into teaching novices."

Bakura shook his head, "Malik," he asked mockingly, "this is a club that test these mortal's wits. Shadow games can be played with any settings. I need you to keep those nosey teacher's out."

Malik smiled, "Sounds great. I guess it's going to be an after dark kind of thing? Where are we going to meet?"

"Don't worry about that," Bakura replied, "I've got it covered. I need you to help me spread the word, without unwanted people finding out. Actually it would be better if people thought that this was your idea."

"What? Are you worried about Ryou?"

Bakura smiled wolfishly, "Isn't it better to have people off their guard around me?"

Malik rolled his eyes, "Yeah whatever."

... ... ... ... ... ...

"OUCH!" Ron shouted almost jumping of his seat shaking his hand furiously. After all a blob full of hot oatmeal had fallen on his hand.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Ryou groaned, rubbing his eyes, "I don't know why I'm so tired. I went to bed the same time everyone else did."

Harry's suspicious glance did not go unnoticed. Yugi's brow creased slightly, but before he had a chance to figure things out, McGonagall was striding briskly down the table handing out timetables for all of the students.

"Noooo!" Ron moaned loudly to anyone who will listen, "Not double potions with Snape and the Slytherins again!"

"That's Professor Snape to you," McGonagall corrected sternly, as she handed Yugi his timetable. Yugi avoided her hawk like gaze still guilty about yesterday.

"What's wrong with Professor Snape?" Ryou asked through a yawn as he tried to focus on his rapidly cooling oatmeal.

"Well you probably shouldn't be hanging out with us. He hates Gryffindors in general, but mostly just me, "Harry replied stabbing his sausage.

Ryou blinked confused, "Why does he hate you?" he asked, "You're so nice."

Hermione laughed, "Don't worry Harry, you'll be fine. Hey is anyone taking Ancient Runes with me?"

Yugi and Ryou glanced down at their timetables, and shook their heads, "I've got Divination, it sounded pretty interesting," Yugi replied.

Ron patted him on the back, "Don't get your hopes up mate. It's about to be dashed to pieces on a jagged rock."

Hermione glanced at her watch as she scooped up the last of her breakfast, "I have to go! I don't want to be late for Professor Victor's class. I'll see you in DADA!"

Ron grumbled inaudibly, "C'mon guys, we need to go to Divination."

... ... ... ... ... ...

Review!


End file.
